REPORT #1104 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Did I mention the roosters are small?
March and wind go together like pizza and anchovies at East Cape! That said, get out before the sun comes up and chances are you will catch a few sierra. Who knows you might also find a few small roosters and jacks willing to take your fly.
The best bet boat-wise is to head up to the North to Muertos (“Sueno” to newcomers) where there is a mixed bag, including mossback-class yellows along with some pargo that will kick your tail if you don’t stay focused. Talk about getting rocked! Both of these critters will do so without hesitation.
Tip: Don’t forget to check your line and backing for nicks or signs of deterioration. If it is over a year old…change it!
Water temperature 62-68
Air temperature 47-78
Humidity 69 %
Wind: SE 3 to 4 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:24 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Few fishing clients this week. Locals found fair snook, grouper and corvina action at Devil’s curve. Out at the Entrada, the sierra and small yellows continued to hammer the surface bait…easy to spot under the bird schools.
Whale watching continues but at a slower pace as more and more leave for their northward journey.
Water temperature 66 - 73
Air temperature 48 -77
Humidity 55%
Wind: WNW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:45 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:31 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The clean water has moved to back within the 10 mile mark, but with the favorable moon phase conditions arriving, this is expected.
The counts for sailfish are still low, with the boats only averaging about 1 sail per day / boat. However the dorado, averaging between 20 and 35 pounds, have been taking up the slack. The boats are getting two to four dorado each per day.
The high surf has really shut down the inshore bite. Most of the Mexicans are blaming the high surf, and the poor fishing, on the full eclipse of the full moon we had this last week. But, I believe the full moon "phase" was more of the culprit, and things will really start picking up again this next week.
A few big blue marlin were also taken this week, with the top marlin hitting the scales at almost 400 pounds.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 63-93
Humidity 66%
Wind: SE at 7mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:06 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:52 p.m. CST
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: It warmed up a bit this past week with several days where our highs were in the mid to high 80’s. On the cooler days we were in the high 70’s, still just about right. In the evening it cooled off quite a bit and on the cold nights we were seeing temperatures in the mid 60’s with a bit of an evening breeze working that made it feel even cooler. There were partly cloudy skies for the first part of the week but it cleared later on. There was no rain, of course.
WATER: I fished both sides of the cape this week, on the Cortez side on Wednesday and the Pacific on Friday and they were surprisingly similar as far as surface conditions went. On the Cortez side the water was cool and green out as far as the 95 spot and the 1150, past that point and out to the Cabrilla Seamount things warmed up to 73.4 degrees and were nice and blue. The only problem we had was the fact that we could not find any fish! The surface was almost glassy with current rips easily seen and the swells slight at 1-2 feet but all we ended up with was seeing some common Pacific Dolphin, a few Humpback Whales and two Striped Marlin on the surface. Oh, we did release on 3-pound Dorado. On the Pacific side on Friday the water within three miles of the coast was a bit bumpy and there was a strong cloud line out 15 miles. We went 31 miles out looking for Tuna and other than the first three miles, the swells were slight at 2-4 feet and the water was glassy, almost summer time like. The water was a slight bit cooler at 71 degrees but we did find football-size Tuna to 25 pounds.
BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price. There were Sardina up around Chileno Bay at $25 a scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: There was a bit of Striped Marlin action almost every morning for boats the fished the area off of Los Arcos on the Pacific side, but it revolved around the tide change and did not last long on any one day. The lucky boats were getting two releases a day while most others were lucky to get a strike. The nice part of the billfish situation is that the Swordfish are starting to be seen on the surface on a fairly regular basis, and by that I mean regular when compared to normal! Probably one in 15 boats have sighted a Swordfish this week and one boat I know saw three different fish on Tuesday and managed to find one of them hungry, proceeding to catch a Swordfish in the 150-pound class after a fight of 90 minutes.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There are finally Tuna showing up on a regular basis even if they are football size fish. From a distance of 30 to 45 miles at between 150 and 240 degrees from the Arch there have been fish found every day. A few small groups have been found closer but they have not been biting well. On my Friday trip we went 31 miles at 230 degrees to find two separate pods of Dolphin. Both of them held fish with the first pod having fish averaging 20 pounds and the second pod averaging 10 pounds. A triple strike, then the fish in the first pod went down. At the second pod we were covered up with all five lines going off, then a double, then singles for a total of 16 Tuna at the end of the trip with the larges at 25 pounds. A friend of mine found fish at 170 degrees and 45 miles on Wednesday that averaged 25 pounds and picked 16 of them in about an hour before having to return to port
DORADO: The warm water on the Cortez side produced a few Dorado this week but other than one day, Tuesday when a pair of boats found a dead seal and loaded up on 15-pound fish, they have been scarce with just a few fish showing up.
WAHOO: I did hear of one nice Wahoo being caught this week about 35 miles to the south by a boat looking for Tuna. The fish was reported to weigh around 90 pounds. I am sure there were a few others caught, and on Wednesday we had one make a pass at one of our lures, but I had no other confirmed reports of them.
INSHORE: The inshore fishing has remained good for Sierra and Yellowtail. Most of the Yellowtail have been caught by boats fishing swimming plugs for Sierra and these fish have been small, but boats willing to do the work and drift live baits deep off of the rocky points or use iron jigs to “yo-yo” have been getting a few nice fish of up to 30 pounds. The Grouper have started to bite a little better and there are still a few snapper being found in the rocks.
NOTES: Things are starting to look up on the fishing front here in Cabo as we are starting to see some Tuna showing up and the inshore fishing remains good. Our fingers are crossed that things continue to remain on a positive track. My golf game is improving as well; I am now consistently getting under 100 strokes! This week’s report has been written to the music of the Gypsy Kings on the 1995 Nonsuch Records release “The Best Of The Gypsy Kings”.
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 42 - 76
Air temperature 54-80
Humidity 69%
Wind: WNW 10-14 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:25p.m. MST
Bahia Asunción
Bleachers in our new Sports Complex
It's been a busy little village this week in Asuncion as the governor was here on Tuesday to inaugurate our new sports complex and the paving crews are busy getting ready to pave the next 10 km of highway into here. It was a big celebration with the usual speeches, folkloric dancing and we were happy to hear the news that the next 30 km of dirt road will be paved this year!! There was a big party for the closing of lobster season in San Roque with music and lobster of course, and now the abalone fishermen are readying their equipment to begin the abalone season. There is a flurry of building activity and we are all watching with amazement as work has begun on a 42 room hotel/shopping plaza at the entrance to town. Many have mixed emotions on this development but I for one will enjoy having a good meal in a new restaurant and finally having a bar in town. And the kids got a new park to play in, too! It was very windy for a few days...strong Santa Ana winds so we haven't been out on the water but plan to head out this weekend
Shari and Juan
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 58-76
Humidity 34%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 12 miles
Sunrise 6:57 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:40 p.m. MST
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